


Discarded Heels

by fragilecapricornpanic



Series: Allison’s Wedding [10]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, Canon Gay Character, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Mush, Gen, Good Sibling Ben Hargreeves, Good Sibling Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Klaus Hargreeves Gets A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Lesbian Vanya Hargreeves, One Shot, One Shot Collection, POV Alternating, Pre-Canon, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves Deserves Better, Vanya Hargreeves Gets a Hug, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, allison’s wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:07:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26544961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragilecapricornpanic/pseuds/fragilecapricornpanic
Summary: Ben winced nervously as he witnessed Klaus put his arm around Vanya; he knew his sister struggled with touching people. Vanya’s teary eyes grew wide with unease at the gesture, but Klaus just brashly forced her head onto his shoulder - completely unaware or unbothered by their sister’s reluctance. “I bet your feet hurt.” Klaus giggled, looking at the heels she’d discarded. Ben agreed, he doubted Vanya had ever worn heels before in her entire life.Set in Allison’s wedding reception.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: Allison’s Wedding [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1904155
Comments: 4
Kudos: 104





	Discarded Heels

**Author's Note:**

> More sweet Vanya soon but with Diego.
> 
> Can be read on its own.

Pacing around the entire reception, Ben grew panicked as he was unable to find his little sister. She was so goddamn nervous, he was worried about her being alone. Ben knew Vanya had never coped well with large crowds or the overwhelming noise of chatter. She was probably terrified of all the socialisation, plus hurt that most people probably weren’t aware Allison even had a sister. He approached the women’s restroom, feeling hesitant to go in even though he was merely a ghost. It still felt weird, like he was crossing some kind of line.

Ben cringed as he tentatively phased through the door, sauntering around to see if any of the stalls were occupied. “Vanya?” Ben called, then rolled his eyes to himself for being so dumb - of course she couldn’t hear him. Ben heard Vanya sniffling from the stall at the end. She was breathing shallow and fast. It was incredibly frustrating that he couldn’t knock, and he certainly wasn’t going to phase through the stall. He’d have to find Klaus, though he wasn’t going to hold his breath that he’d be much use.

It would probably take a while to actually find his brother, Ben supposed as he phased back into the hallway. He was proven wrong by immediately bumping into him, Klaus being all over some guy like a rash. “ _Come on!_ ” Ben groaned with exasperation, disgusted that his brother was stumbling off to hookup in a freaking public bathroom of all places. “That’s just gross, even for you.” he muttered judgementally. No matter how many times Klaus did this, it always made Ben grimace. His brother had already skulked off with a random waiter earlier that day. God knows what he’d been up to in the hours Ben had chosen not to be around. Klaus tore his hand from the man’s waist to shove **GOODBYE** at Ben. At this point, Ben felt like the tattoos had been done purely so Klaus could do that.

”Don’t you think that’s getting kind of old?” Ben sighed, following his brother into the restroom despite wanting to be literally anywhere else. Klaus scowled at him in disbelief, subtly gesturing for him to leave as they slipped into a stall. “It’s Vanya.” Ben explained, preparing himself for Klaus to just get right to it since he knew that always forced Ben to hastily scurry out. He really had no shame. “I think she’s having a panic attack.” His brother froze, pausing hurriedly unbuckling the man’s belt. “Is she okay?” Klaus whispered, as if speaking quieter would make him look any less insane. “I don’t know, _I_ can’t talk to her.” Ben fumed with frustration. Klaus gazed from the disturbed looking man and back to Ben again, clearly mulling things over... fidgeting indecisively with the belt. Ben huffed to himself, knowing Klaus was almost definitely going to choose sex. 

Scrunching up toilet paper in her hand over and over again, Vanya tried to calm her nerves. It was impossible. She couldn’t take any more of her medication for three hours, and she couldn’t just escape to her apartment like usual. Even escaping to her hotel room felt daunting - she doubted Allison would notice her absence, but the thought still wracked her with guilt. Her sister had made no effort to even talk to Vanya all day, but why would she? Vanya tried to silence her snivelling as someone entered through the restroom door. It would be so embarrassing to be heard sobbing in a bathroom, like something from a cheesy movie. As the person approached her stall, and she noticed eccentric men’s shoes - she sighed wearily. “Vanny Van Van?” Klaus whispered chirpily, gently knocking on the door. She didn’t even understand how he knew she was here. “I don’t know, I just wanted to lighten the mood!” Klaus hissed in hushed tones, despite being the only other person here. Vanya gulped nervously, not wanting to deal with Klaus’ multitude of anxiety inducing issues.

”Can I come in?” her brother softly suggested. Vanya really didn’t want to let him in, but she knew she didn’t have it in her to say no to any of her siblings. She reluctantly stood to unlock and open the door, regretting doing so before she’d even done it. Klaus was nibbling on his nails, though he paused when he saw her tear splotched face. Vanya stared down at the ground self-consciously, shielding herself behind the door in an attempt to hide how pathetic she looked. “Can I sit down?” Klaus asked, glancing down to the corner of the stall. Vanya noticed his drunken wobbling and nodded her head, glad that at least he wouldn’t be looking down at her - it just made her feel even smaller, both figuratively and literally. Klaus patted the floor for her to join him, pushing the stall door closed with his other hand. Vanya felt uncomfortable being confined in such close contact, but also didn’t particularly want someone to come in and freak out because a man was in here. The door unfortunately needed to be closed. She peered down at her dress, wondering if sitting on a bathroom floor would ruin it. Vanya decided she hated the hideous thing anyway, so she shyly joined her brother on the tiles. It was difficult to sit down in a dress, she wondered why on earth people wore them.

Ben shuffled to the floor too, sitting opposite his sister. She looked so downtrodden, even more than usual. Ben winced nervously as he witnessed Klaus put his arm around Vanya. He knew his sister struggled with touching people, especially Klaus. Ben wished his brother had the same issue, rather than touching _way_ too many people _far_ too much, with an unhealthy amount of enthusiasm. Ben also wished his brother wouldn’t get so offended when he tried to convince him to actually have some caution and stop being so goddamn self-destructive. Vanya’s eyes grew wide with unease at the gesture, but Klaus just brashly forced her head onto his shoulder - completely unaware or unbothered by their sister’s reluctance. “I bet your feet hurt.” Klaus giggled, looking at the heels she’d discarded. Ben agreed, he doubted Vanya had ever worn heels before in her entire life. “They feel like I’ve been walking on glass.” Vanya murmured, sounding like her nose was blocked from her crying. “Oh yeah, been there. Wouldn’t recommend.” their brother wheezed, patting at Vanya’s head awkwardly. Ben glowered at Klaus, remembering the time he’d literally walked on glass like a complete goddamn idiot.

Klaus stuck his tongue out at his brother childishly, wishing his goodbye hand wasn’t occupied by Vanya’s head. Her hair was unbelievably soft, he really needed to know what conditioner she used - though he sensed now wasn’t the right time to ask. “I think your violin would’ve been better than that snooty harp she had.” Klaus truthfully stated, feeling disdain for that boring bullshit. Vanya should’ve been the one playing her down the aisle. “I think maybe you’re a little too high.” Vanya sniffled, rubbing at her nose with a ball of toilet paper. Klaus chuckled in disbelief, sharing amusedly shocked eye contact with Ben. “I like the sass, it suits you.” he teased, glad she finally developed the ability to backtalk. Though it would be good if it wasn’t purely to be self-deprecating. “She has a point.” Ben remarked, crossing his arms smugly. Klaus pettily kicked through him. Everyone gets wasted at weddings!

Flinching slightly at her brother suddenly kicking nothing, Vanya tried desperately not to feel too on edge due to the random nature of his actions. Klaus flung the arm that wasn’t already around Vanya to envelope her in a loose cuddle, leaning his head gently against hers. The longer she sat hugged into Klaus, the more comfortable she felt with it. It was actually growing quite consoling - regardless of him smelling so strongly of alcohol that it was practically burning her nostrils. “Don’t worry, I won’t puke.” Klaus dozily attempted to reassure her. That hadn’t even been something Vanya was worried about, but it certainly was now. Things couldn’t get much worse today anyway... she decided being vomited on wouldn’t make a great deal of difference. “You don’t have to stay here, you know.” Vanya breathed meekly, feeling guilty to be stopping her brother from enjoying the reception. She knew he wouldn’t want to spend time with her, and she couldn’t blame him. Klaus scoffed, tapping a rhythm onto her head with his fingers. “I’m not going anywhere.” he assured her, though she imagined he was just being polite. Not that polite was usually a word used to describe her brother... maybe he did want to stay with her, for some inexplicable reason.

Although it would’ve been nice to have continued on in the men’s bathroom, it was actually sweet sitting here with his sister. She seemed to be breathing steadier now. Klaus had fucked her over enough times in his constant quest to get money, it was cathartic to somewhat make the slightest amends. ”I tried to set Luther up with a sexy bridesmaid but he went all red and stormed off.” Klaus giggled mischievously, hoping to make Vanya laugh at the expense of Number One. Vanya snorted gently, crinkling toilet paper in her hand as a means to fidget. “I’m sure my gaydar was pinging for some lesbiaaaans out there...” he sang teasingly, ruffling her hair as though she were a rambunctious scamp. Ben scowled at him once again. “It’s like all you can think about is sex.” his dead brother groaned. Klaus scowled back, wishing he could hiss at him. Vanya was always spooked when he did that around her, it wouldn’t be wise. Ben knew Klaus was sensitive about that subject, his constant judgement just made him feel shitty. “I think about other shit.” he mouthed to Ben with narrowed eyes. “Yeah, getting high and drunk.” his brother snickered in condemnation. “Drop dead.” Klaus mouthed, rolling his eyes and looking back down to Vanya.

Vanya pulled her head back from her brother’s shoulder, peering up at him diffidently. “Are you okay?” she murmured, puzzled by him suddenly growing quiet. Something that he scarcely did. “Fine and dandy!” he exclaimed with a grin, though it didn’t spread to his eyes. Vanya placed her head back down on him, bewildered with herself for doing so voluntarily. “Do you think it’ll be over soon?” she whispered, feeling remorseful for even asking such a thing. It was Allison’s big day, she shouldn’t be longing for it to be over with. “Who gives a shit.” Klaus chuckled, moving his arm to link his fingers between hers. Vanya stilled once again, feeling caught off guard by even more touch - it was so far out of her comfort zone it hardly felt real. Klaus squeezed her hand gently, so she tentatively squeezed his back. “Your hands are so tiny...” he mumbled, sounding utterly fascinated. “It would be kind of weird if they weren’t.” Vanya quipped sarcastically. She felt Klaus’ chest moving with silent laughter. It was bizarre to have someone actually laugh with her rather than at her. “I don’t know why she made you get a manicure,” he drawled, pulling her hand towards his face “it doesn’t even match your dress!” Vanya smirked, finding how outraged her brother sounded entertaining.

”I think she just wanted her wedding pictures to be perfect.” Vanya explained gently, sounding a little less tearful. “She made a makeup artist put concealer on me for like an entire hour.” Klaus wheezed, referring to the black eye Diego had apparently given Klaus after he had vomited directly onto him. According to Ben, Klaus had been extremely irritating - which sounded pretty accurate. “I think I might’ve cried all my makeup off...” Vanya sighed, sounding quite relieved. Klaus bit his lip to stop himself from laughing, she unknowingly had a severe case of panda eyes. “You’re better as yourself anyway.” Klaus confidently assured her, still finding himself rather freaked out by the sight of Vanya dressed all girly. Ben nodded his definite agreement. “So are you.” she murmured, running her thumb across his nails that were distinctly lacking polish. “I’m living for the gay bonding, we should make this a monthly event.” Klaus drawled playfully, stroking her hair like a cat since it was so goddamn _soft_. “Which conditioner do y-“

The sound of a gaggle of rowdy women entering the restroom broke them into silence. Though it wasn’t awkward or disquieted, if anything it was quite calming. Vanya hoped maybe they could stay here until things were less daunting, hiding from the reception like kids from a storm. They’d probably never do anything remotely similar together again, she doubted Klaus would even be able to remember this, but it was a solace whilst it lasted.


End file.
